It Hurts, Draco
by sevenblankpages
Summary: "Malfoy?" "Yes?" "Why does it hurt so bad?"  A look into what would have happened if Harry and Ron hadn't saved Hermione from being tortured. OneShot. Dramione.


"It hurts."

Draco didn't say anything but his heart beat even faster. This was ridiculous; where were his parents and Bella? Better yet, where were Potter and Weasley? His heart stopped for a second as this thought left just as fast as it entered. His stomach began to ache and he shakily inhaled as his eyes darted to the teenage girl lying on the ground in front of him. She hadn't moved since she'd been Crucio'd but that was half an hour ago. His father had told him to make sure that she didn't move- she hadn't.

"Malfoy?"

Her voice sounded so weak; it was strange and terrifying to listen to _her _sound scared. Hermione Granger- the Gryffindor know-it-all, the girl he ridiculed only months before, laughing cruelly at her behind her back as she stuck her nose in the air- now she was on the floor, tears slipping into her hairline; _captured._ He sniffed and then cleared his throat. He glanced down at her from his seat ten feet away from her.

"Yes?"

She opened her eyes and they slowly found his face; the spark that was usually there, the one she had when she retorted with a smartass comeback, or when she knew the right answer before anyone else, or when she laughed- it was replaced with the sparkling of unshed tears. Other than that, her eyes were dead.

There was a trickle of blood that ran down her neck and Draco almost heaved up everything he'd been forced to shove down his throat in the last twenty four hours. That was ridiculous in itself; he'd seen worse. He'd been through worse. The mark that cursed his left arm hurt for weeks after he received it.

"Why does it hurt so bad?"

Her voice was thick with pain; it was difficult for her to speak. For him, as well; he cleared his throat again.

"I don't know."

She closed her eyes at his words and swallowed; the blood trickled even more down her neck and he shuddered.

"Don't…don't tell them."

"Tell who _what_, Granger?" he asked quietly.

When she opened her eyes, the tears seeped into her hairline again.

"Don't tell them that…that I was crying." She swallowed again and tried to speak clearer. "Don't tell them that I'm scared."

"Tell who, Granger?" he asked again.

"Harry and Ron."

He didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He watched as her breathing became erratic, like his own as she struggled to stay calm; he could practically feel her panic rising like boiling water; could practically hear her heart beat beating faster and faster by the second.

"Don't tell them that I want to die," she croaked.

"Granger-" He wanted her to stop talking; this wasn't right, this wasn't normal- nothing was normal but none of that mattered anymore, all he knew was that she had to stop talking-

"Do it, Draco, do it, please-"

"I don't know what-"

"Please, Malfoy, just do it-"

"What are you talking-"

"Kill me, Draco, kill me please- end this pain-"

She was sobbing again, her teeth clenched in pain and she tried, feebly, to lift herself from the ground; she rolled onto her side and pushed herself up into a half-seated position. Draco's breathing became erratic.

"Granger, I c-can't-"

"Do what you were going to do to Dumbledore, Draco, please-"

"GRANGER, I CAN'T!"

He hadn't meant to shout; it frightened her and she lost her balanced and sank back onto the ground. He inhaled and exhaled heavily, as if he had just ran a long distance. He shakily got out of his chair and knelt on the ground beside her. He lifted his hands: to do what, exactly, he wasn't sure- touch her face, her hair, the cut on her neck- he was scared to touch her- so they just hovered over her. She blinked up at him.

"Why?"

"You're not supposed to die, Granger," he just barely whispered and was horrified to find himself in near tears. "It's not supposed to happen this way."

"Well it is, Malfoy!" she tried to scream but her voice cracked and she let out a sob. Her hands reached up to his face but he grabbed them in his shaking ones. He let out a shaky breath. "There's nothing that can be done anymore!"

"Don't give up hope, Granger," he whispered. "Don't you fucking dare. Do you think that if I couldn't kill Dumbledore, that I'd want the three of you dead? You're going to win. You're going to win."

"I'm going to die," she whispered. "I won't win. Harry might, but I won't."

"Granger-"

Before he could finish speaking, the drawing room door burst open and Malfoy jumped back from Hermione, dropping her hands. He had forgotten that they were still in the drawing room, he had forgotten that all of this was still happening right here, right now.

His father stood in the doorway, his hair in a disarray and his eyes wild. Though he looked a mess, his voice was strong and stable when he spoke.

"It's time."

And that's when Draco knew it was all over.


End file.
